Biodiversity

Healthy, productive and resilient marine ecosystems are essential to us as they provide economic, scientific, environmental, cultural and ecological benefits to the global human population. Each species has a vital role to play and altering this balance can have serious and sometimes unforeseen implications for the functioning, productivity and ability to withstand stress of the entire ecosystem.

Intensifying pressures from resource exploitation, habitat destruction, pollution and climate change are driving widespread declines in marine biodiversity. We are using our expertise to measure and investigate biodiversity across a range of biological scales, and explore the ecological processes and interactions that support biologically diverse and productive marine ecosystems. This will enable us to understand how and why marine ecosystems change through space and time and what drives their resilience or sensitivity to environmental stress.

Our research is also expanding understanding of the links between biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and the huge range of services and benefits that we derive from marine ecosystems, ranging from food provision to climate regulation and recreational opportunities.

Making a difference

Before we can identify the impact of human activities on marine ecosystems we first need to appreciate the extent to which marine biodiversity, community structure and ecosystem processes vary naturally through space and time. PML scientists are expanding this knowledge-base which will increase our ability to predict and ameliorate the consequences of human impacts on the marine environment and potentially help to incorporate the economic value of biodiversity into mainstream decision-making.